China's Social Credit System Starts to Flex it's Muscle

China has been developing their social credit system where each citizen's social and financial actions impacts their "social credit score". If you get caught jaywalking, you'll get a point against your social credit. Get enough dings and you won't be able to buy a airline ticket or get a loan.

A new app, that currently operates in Hebei province, will notify you  if you are within 500 meters of someone in debt. In the US, this app notification would be constant and deafening. Being in debt is the norm for US citizens. So, this app may not sound so scary but this is just an initial application. All this data is available for US citizens it just hasn't been used, publicly, by our government in this way. Yet.

From EveningStandard:

In China, things work a little differently. The country is gearing up to launch a social credit system in 2020, giving all citizens an identity number that will be linked to a permanent record.

Like a financial score, everything from paying back loans to behaviour on public transport will be included.

The app name translates to “map of deadbeat debtors”, and can be accessed via WeChat, China’s most popular instant-messaging platform. The idea is that it will allow people to “whistle-blow on debtors capable of paying their debts.”